Shipping container for u-shaped tubes



Dec. 27, 1955 v. KANTOLA ETAL SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR U-SHAPED TUBES Filed Aug. 25, 1952 Q/MWJM ATTOK/VA'V United States Patent 9 SHIPPING CONTAINER FOR 'U-SHAPED TUBES Vincent Kantola and John R. Martin, Decatur, Ala., as-

siguors to Calumet & Hecla, Inc., a corporation of Michigan Application August 25, 1952,-Serial No. 306,166

4 Claims. (Cl. 206 -65) This invention relates generally to material handling pallets and refers more particularly to an improved pallet for shipping U-shaped tubes of the type employed in the fabrication of heat exchange units.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a pallet comprising a shipping container having means for supporting a bundle of U-shaped tubes in a manner such that the tubes may be successively removed from the container in the order in which they are required for installation in the heat exchange unit. The arrangement is such that the user or the heat exchange manufacturer'is relieved of the burden of sorting the tubes prior to assembly of the heat exchange unit, and hence the cost of handling of the tubes preparatory to assembly of the heat exchange unit is greatly reduced.

It is another object of this invention to provide a shipping pallet of the foregoing type which is composed of a relatively few simple parts capable of being produced from an inexpensive material rendering it possible to discard the pallet after it has served its purpose.

The foregoing as well as other objects will be made more apparent as this description proceeds especially when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of the shipping pallet;

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure l.

The shipping pallet forming the subject matter of this invention may be used to package lengths of U-shaped tubes for heat exchange units having numerous difierent arrangements of the U-shaped tubes. Ordinarily the tubes are supported in rows with one row spaced above the other and with the tubes in each row nested one within the other. The tubes in alternate rows are often of a different size from the tubes in the other rows and are staggered relative thereto. in addition, the alternate rows of tubes will ordinarily contain tubes of the same size, and the other rows of tubes will also ordinarily contain tubes of the same size.

Although, as stated above, the particular arrangement of the LJ-shaped tubes in the heat exchange unit may vary considerably, nevertheless, such units usually comprise a substantial number of tubes or groups of tubes of different sizes in order to obtain the nesting relationship ordinarily required. This construction presents a serious assembly problem since the tubes are usually shipped to the heat exchange fabricator in bundles and the tubes must be sorted as to size before assembly with the usual supporting plates. The sorting of the tubes consumes considerable time especially in instances where many of the tubes differ only slightly in size. In fact, due to the flexible nature of the relatively long leg portions 12 of the tubes 10, it is entirely possible to install tubes of the wrong size in the supporting plates. Should such an error occur it 2,728,452 Patented Dec. 27, 1955 is necessary to withdraw the tube, and this not only requires considerable time but frequently fractures or deforms the tube to such an extent that it'must be replaced.

In accordance with this invention the tube fabricator may ship the tubes 10 to the assembly plant in 'a compact, disposable pallet having provision for holding the tubes in such relationship that the tubes '10 may be successively removed in the order in which they are assembled with the supporting plates. Thus the time consuming operation of sorting the tubes is not only elimi nated but the chance for error is reduced to a minimum.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive the numeral 17 indicates a pallet comprising a container 18 having a base or bottom wall 19, side walls 20, end walls 21 and an open top 22. If desired, the top may be closed by a suitable removable cover or top wall 23. In any event, the container 18 has a length somewhat longer than 'the longest U-shaped tube 10 employed in the heat exchange unit and has a width sufficient to accommodate in side by side relationship the U-tubes in adjacent rows '16, 15 having the greatest radius of curvature. In the present instance, the U-shaped tubes 10 inthe rows 15 are positioned at the side 24 of the container and the somewhat larger U-shaped tubes 10 in the rows 16 are housed in the container at the side 25. This arrangement not only permits separating the two groups of tubes in a manner to facilitate removal of the tubes in proper order but, in addition, renders it possible to accommodate a greater number of tubes in a smaller shipping space.

As shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, the inner U- tubes 26 in the respective rows 15 are supported on the base 19 of the container one above the other in a vertical stack and are held against lateral shifting movement by a separator 27 extending upwardly from the'base 19 be tween the leg portions 12 of the tubes 26. The U-tubes 26 are nested within the U-tubes 28 in therespective-rows 15 and the tubes 28 are also supported on the base 19 in vertical stacked relationship. The tubes 28 are positioned by a pair of separators 29 extending upwardly from the base 19 and respectively projecting between the legs 12 of the U-tubes 26 and 'thelegs 12 of'the U-tubes 28. The space between the separators 29 approximates the distance between the inner sides of the legs 12 of the tubes 28 so that the tubes 28 are held against relative lateral shifting movement.

The U-tubes 28 are nested within the U-tubes 30 in the respective rows 15, and the tubes 30 are supported on the base 19 of the container 18 in vertical stacked relationship by a pair of separators 31 extending upwardly from the base 19. The separators 31 respectively project upwardly between the legs 12 of the tubes 28 and the tubes 30, and are spaced from each other a distance approximating the distance between the inner sides of the legs 12 of the U-tubes 31 in order to hold the tubes against relative lateral shifting movement. Additional pairs of separators such, for example, as indicated by the reference numerals 32 and 33 are provided for the remaining tubes in the rows 15, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings.

As stated above the U-shaped tubes in the respective rows 16 are supported within the container 18 at the side 25 by a second set of separators designated by the numerals 34 to 38 inclusive. The separators of the second set are similar to those of the first set in that they cooperate with one another to position the U-tubes, in the respective rows 16, having the same radius of curvature in the same vertical stack with the U-tubes of smaller radii nested within the U-tubes of greater radii.

In Figure 1 of the drawings the separators are shown in plan view and it will be noted that the separators are divided into two groups 39 and 40. The group 39 is positioned within the container 18 to engage the tubes adjacent the arcuate ends 13, and the group 40 is positioned to engage the tubes adjacent the free ends of the leg portions 12. Adjacent separators in each group are secured together in proper lateral spaced relationship by spaced blocks 41 suitably secured to the bottom wall 19 of the container 18 and extending lengthwise of the container, as shown in Figure 3 of the drawing.

The vertical spaces provided between the separators are open at the top and may be closed during shipment by the top wall 23. In instances where the top wall 23 is spaced above the top edges of the separators a filler part 42 may be inserted between the wall 23 and top edges of the separators. Filler blocks 43 may also be provided to fill any space that may exist between the uppermost tubes 10 and the part 42, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. In any case, all of the various parts of the container 18 are formed of wood or some inexpensive material so that the container may be discarded after it serves its purpose.

It is apparent from the foregoing that after the top wall 23 together with any filler parts employed are removed from the container 18, the U-tubes 10 may be successively removed from the container through the top of the latter in the order required to properly assemble a heat exchange unit. For example, the U-tubes 10 forming the top layer at the side 24 of the container may be first removed in succession and assembled with the supporting plates of the heat exchange unit to form the top or bottom row of tubes of the heat exchange unit. The U-tubes 10 forming the top layer at the side 25 of the container may then be removed in succession and assembled with the supporting plates to form the next adjacent row of tubes 16. This process may be continued until all of the tubes in the container 18 have been assembled with the supporting plates. Thus, as stated above, sorting of tubes of different sizes prior to assembly is eliminated and the chance for errors to occur during assembly is reduced to a minimum.

What we claim as our invention is:

l. A shipping pallet for U-shaped tubes of the type used in fabricating heat exchange units having a plurality of groups of U-shaped tubes arranged with the tubes in each group in nesting relationship, comprising a container for the U-shaped tubes having an open top through which the U-shaped tubes are removable and having a bottom wall, and means supported within the container for locating a plurality of U-shaped tubes of the same radii in the same vertical stacks with the stacks of U-shaped tubes.

or smaller radii nested within the stacks of U-shaped tubes of larger radii, said means comprising a plurality of pairs of laterally spaced, vertically extending separators, the separators of each pair being respectively located on opposite sides of and equal distances from a vertical plane extending longitudinally through the container, the separators on opposite sides of said plane being spaced apart to define slots for receiving the leg portions of the U- shaped tubes, and a plurality of sets of U-shaped tubes of different radii, the tubes of each set having the same radii and being arranged in vertical stacks symmetrically relative to said plane with the leg portions of said tubes 4 in said slots, the tubes of smaller radii nesting within the tubes of larger radii.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said slots are open at the top to permit successive removal of the tubes, and in which filler blocks are removably disposed in said slots in overlying relation to the tubes.

3. A shipping pallet for U-shaped tubes of the type used in fabricating a heat exchange unit having a plurality of adjacent rows of U-shaped tubes arranged with the tubes in each row in nesting relationship and with the tubes in alternate rows staggered with respect to the tubes in adjacent intermediate rows, comprising a container for said tubes having an open upper end through which the tubes are removable and having a bottom wall, two sets of separators supported within the container in side by side relationship with the separators of both sets extending vertically and spaced laterally from each other in the direction of width of the container, the separators of one set being adapted to locate the tubes of alternate rows and comprising a plurality of pairs of separators with the separators of each pair respectively located on opposite sides of and equal distances from a vertical plane extending longitudinally through the container, the separators of the other set being adapted to locate the tubes of intermediate rows and comprising a plurality of pairs of separators with the separators of each of the last-mentioned pairs respectively located on opposite sides of and equal distances from a second plane extending longitudinally through the container, the separators of said two sets being spaced apart to define slots for receiving the leg portions of the tubes of the alternate and intermediate rows re spectively, the slots being open at the top to permit successive removal of the tubes in the order in which they are required for installation in the heat exchange unit, two groups of U-shaped tubes, each comprising sets of tubes of different radii with the tubes of each set having the same radii, the tubes of one group being arranged symmetrically relative to the first plane with the leg portions thereof in the slots defined between the separators of one set, the tubes of the other group being arranged symmetrically relative to the second plane with the leg portions thereof in the slots defined between the separators of the other set, and the tubes of each group being arranged in nesting relationship.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 including filler blocks removably disposed in said slots and overlying said tubes.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,405,825 Flannery Feb. 7, 1922 1,815,858 Lifschultz July 21, l93l 1,988,990 Weeks Jan. 22, 1935 2,249,851 Pilliod et al. July 22, 1941 2,519,662 Kernpken Aug. 22, 1950 2,559,552 Welshenbach July 3, 1951 2,629,499 Welshenbach Feb. 24, 1953 

